Chronicle Editor
Mhlupheki Dube
WE continue to look at broad strategies that can be employed by the community in general and smallholder livestock farmers in particular to try and save their livestock from being wiped out by drought. I think it is a good idea to dust off some unused structures and put them to good use.
I am talking about giant communal feedlots that were either barely utilised or never utilised at all. Some communal areas like those in Mangwe District are littered with big feedlot pens that are hardly in use for one reason or another. There are also some giant feedlots that are lying in a state of neglect in some irrigation schemes. These pens were constructed with a sole purpose of saving livestock from drought.
Silalatshani Irrigation Scheme in Insiza District is an example of an irrigation with big feedlot pens within its premises. These pens have not been used in years. I am also aware that the Cold Storage Company had many such pens across the country designed for handling cattle before, during and after a sale.
These can also be converted into communal feedlot pens. I obviously do not have an inventory of all such schemes but I know that relevant Government ministries and departments have the information.
It is my submission that we need to revive all such feedlot pens such that farmers in drought-stricken districts who can access the pens can bring in their animals and feed them through the dry season. This process should be supported by Government which should loan such farmers enough stock feed to take their animals throughout the dry period until the next rains.
It is important to note that these animals will not be on a pen fattening ration part on a ration between maintenance and fattening.
The idea is to prevent animals walking long distances searching for non-existent grazing, thereby wasting away. Government will then recover the cost of the loans when the dry season is over and farmers take their animals to the market. Consider it a livestock Government input scheme, in the same manner farmers receive cropping inputs every year to cushion them from the high costs.
It will be extremely helpful if Government can modify the crop production input scheme and customise it to suit the livestock sector. Government simply has to come in and do something, it cannot afford to fold hands and count figures and mourn with the farmers.
It shouldn’t happen because that will be akin to a father breaking down together with his kids crying of hunger!
This concept of bringing animals into communal feedlots to save them from starvation has been used before by communities in recent times in such districts as Mangwe and Matobo.
The process was supported by abattoir operators who loaned farmers the feed and recovered the feed cost when farmers were now selling the pen fed animals.
So farmers used the feedlots to pen feed some of their animals while at the same time they got stock feed to supplement some of their animals. If solutions are not found to grazing challenges, we will see a lot of trespassing as farmers illegally take their animals into private properties for grazing.
It is already happening in Plumtree Town. Neighbouring communities have converted the town into one giant paddock. There are over 400 head of animals grazing day and night in every corner of the town and residents are in distress. The town council is trying to impound and fine owners but such action has never been known to be deterrent enough.
Matobo RDC is making a killing from animals that are straying into a property of one commercial farmer who impounds them and takes to council pens and each animal pays $625 for it to be released. While this obviously solves Matobo RDC salary cash flow, it a challenge for the affected farmer.
My worry is what if there is no viable solution found for grazing challenges. If not handled carefully, we may very well have a MaShurugwi situation in our hands as livestock farmers drive their desperate animals into other people’s farms, machete style!
Let’s be proactive and proffer suggestions and solutions so that the situation does not become desperate.
One hopes that the rainfall that has been reported in a number of areas can increase the geographical spread and save the situation.
Uyabonga umntakaMaKhumalo.
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Bongani Ndlovu